A need has been recognized in the vacuum cleaner industry for an upright vacuum cleaner that can be used with attachments. As such, there exists a need for a vacuum that can draw dirty air from a beater bar and draw dirty air from a hand held attachment. This vacuum needs to function such that the vacuum draws dirty air from a beater bar intake without having the dirty air traverse through a hand held attachment intake and vice versa. The upright vacuum cleaner should be able to effect this change quickly and easily. The upright vacuum cleaner should also be able to effect this change with minimal inconvenience.
The prior art upright vacuum cleaners often utilize the same input port for both the beater bar and a hand held attachment, or utilize separate intake ports for the beater bar and hand held attachments. However, these designs have many drawbacks. In vacuum cleaners where the upright vacuum cleaners utilize the same input port for both the beater bar and a hand held attachment, the use of the hand held attachment is difficult to engage, and often requires shutting off the vacuum in order to switch between the beater bar and the hand held attachment. The prior art upright vacuum cleaners that utilize separate intake ports for the beater bar and the hand held attachment require the user to manually divert the air from one intake to the other. These valves are often inconvenient to use and often require shutting down the vacuum unit. The prior art does not, however, exemplify upright vacuum cleaners with easy, convenient mechanisms which facilitate the operator's ability to switch between using a beater bar and a hand held attachment. Often, prior art air diverting systems in upright vacuum cleaners leak—causing air to be drawn in from both beater bar and hand held port—thereby reducing the overall cleaning effectiveness of both the beater bar and the hand held attachment. Furthermore, prior art manual air diverting systems are undesirably located on the base and require shutting off the motor in order to change between the beater bar and a hand held attachment. Lastly, as the prior art manual air diverting systems are undesirably located on the floor, it can be awkward for users, especially users with back problems, to reach the control to use the air diverting system.